first try at making some actions

[squarepeg]

Some of these are just minor variations, but most are new. I'm not sure they all work correctly so tips are appreciated. Hope they will be enjoyed and will inspire others to share too.

[Don]

Squarepeg,

Thanks for posting these. It is great when people are willing to share their actions with others.

These actions are very well done. There are a number of minor technical errors here. For the most part, they are the same mistakes that just about everyone makes on their first set of actions. Since so many people tend to make the same mistakes, I thought I would post some comments here instead of sending a private message like I normally do.

The most common mistake made when creating actions is assuming things about what the players are wearing. Some examples are as follows:

1. Clothes-mod talks about changing clothing, but there is no requirement that the players are wearing any. Thus this action could be played when the players are totally nude.

2. Clothes-panties requires that the female player be wearing panties, but they could be under 3 other layers of clothing. This should require that they be removable, not wearing.

3. int touch-tease assumes that the female player is wearing "undies". However, ther only clothing requirement is that the crotch be covered. Thus, the player could be wearing only pants, or only a long dress, etc.

Another very common mistake is misunderstanding the "stripping" category. Several of the actions (bribe-bottomless for example) have Stripping marked as a category. This is unnecessary, stripping refers taking off clothing in an erotic way, usually with music, as in a strip tease. Simply removing clothing deoesn't need that to be checked.

The future thrill actions all refer to things that will be done later, after the game is finished. We have tended to avoid this in the base actions, but there is nothing wrong with doing this sort of thing if you enjoy it.

Show off-wet undies assumes that the player has undies available.

Show off-flash and love - practice new would both work better if the clothing requirement were accessible instead of covered. Coverred could mean covered by many layers making flashing impossible. Also, love - practice new should have intercourse marked.

I hope this convery the general idea of the sort of things to look for. These actions are much better than most of what I see from a first try, a few little technical changes like this can make them play better in the game.

Thanks,

Don

[squarepeg]

Don,

Thanks for the response – and quick too. I can see some of your points but I still am not sure how to make the actions I want.

Take clothes–mod for example, how would you create an action that requires some clothes, any clothes? The Clothing Items tab has check boxes. Are those items or’ed together or and’ed. That is, to activate the action must you have clothing items for all the checked boxes or any of them? I couldn’t find an answer in the documentation.

I had the same problem with show off–walk where I wanted the woman to be wearing a skirt or dress or nightgown or slip, but not all of them, just any of them. Can you clarify how the Clothing Items check boxes work.

Again in touch-tease where it requires the subjects crotch to be covered, I didn’t know if the subject’s crotch would be covered with a thong, panties, briefs or something else, so I meant “undies“ to mean the generic covering. I didn’t want to create a separate action for each potential covering. Is there a better way to handle this?

Wish item: a way to insert new actions into a trial game that moves quickly and gives priority to your new actions so you can see if they work as intended.

I understand that most actions are not meant to be repeated but the above action, clothes-mod, could be repeated, as it is up to the player’s imagination how to change one piece of clothing. So I wish there was a way to leave it in the pool of available actions.

In creating actions for both the man and woman, what is the preferred term for underpants? I used “undies” but perhaps that is not very common. What do you suggest?

The clothes–panties action was intended (on my part) to temporarily remove any outer garments and my text instructed her to redress. Does this go against the game spirit or momentum you had in mind?

“Show off-wet undies assumes that the player has undies available.” Yes, I thought this would be a safe assumption for most of the game players. When we play your game, we often use the action as a starting point and modify it so it works for us. If the game calls for something we don’t have, we substitute. So briefs, panties, thong, g-string, whatever works.

Regarding categories – I sometime have trouble fitting an action into the scheme. Agreed that bribe-bottomless shouldn’t need stripping checked, but what should be checked instead? Without it the action is 3-3A and would be likely to occur too early in the game, right? Sometimes, I’ve checked an “inappropriate” category for this reason – to assign it a higher level and delay its appearance. Same reasoning with bribe-panties. Partner doesn’t really remove subjects clothes, but its close and it places the level reasonably well.

The love-practice new action was only simulated intercourse. Should the category “intercourse” really be checked for pretend sex?

And as you can tell, these actions are experiments trying to figure our how to make work. So your feedback is very helpful and appreciated. We have enjoyed your game very much. Thanks!

[Don]

Don,

Thanks for the response – and quick too. I can see some of your points but I still am not sure how to make the actions I want.

Take clothes–mod for example, how would you create an action that requires some clothes, any clothes? The Clothing Items tab has check boxes. Are those items or’ed together or and’ed. That is, to activate the action must you have clothing items for all the checked boxes or any of them? I couldn’t find an answer in the documentation.

The Clothing Item boxes are currently anded together. So if you check 4 of them, all 4 items of clothing must be worn. However, in version 1.5 of the game which is in Beta test right now, there is a checkbox to make that an or function. For this particular action, I think I would not use the Clothing Item tab at all, but would instead use the Partner Clothing Prerequisites to make sure that certain areas of the body were covered.

I had the same problem with show off–walk where I wanted the woman to be wearing a skirt or dress or nightgown or slip, but not all of them, just any of them. Can you clarify how the Clothing Items check boxes work.

There is no good way to do this in 1.4, but the new checkbox in 1.5 makes it easy.

Again in touch-tease where it requires the subjects crotch to be covered, I didn’t know if the subject’s crotch would be covered with a thong, panties, briefs or something else, so I meant “undies“ to mean the generic covering. I didn’t want to create a separate action for each potential covering. Is there a better way to handle this?

Again, this is solved in 1.5 For this action, you would want to specify Panties, Thong, etc. and then mark it as removable. Also, for this action you should check "Bare below the waist temporarily" under the Categories. This category is new for 1.5 as well.

Wish item: a way to insert new actions into a trial game that moves quickly and gives priority to your new actions so you can see if they work as intended.

There is a way to do this, though it is not really easy. Take the items you want to test and put them in an action file by themselves. Then remove all other action files from the Actioins directory. That way your items will be the only ones in the game. Then, when you play they will come up fast. You may get some "Error, cannot find a suitable action for this situation" messages, but that is OK.

I understand that most actions are not meant to be repeated but the above action, clothes-mod, could be repeated, as it is up to the player’s imagination how to change one piece of clothing. So I wish there was a way to leave it in the pool of available actions.

There is no provision for that in the game. It is an interesting idea for the future. Some people have put multiple copies of the same action in a file.

In creating actions for both the man and woman, what is the preferred term for underpants? I used “undies” but perhaps that is not very common. What do you suggest?

It is actually very difficult to do what you are describing at all. Anytime you use the "Clothing Items" field to specify particular male or female clothing items, you should make that action appropriate for Male or Female subject only. In fact, if you don't, the validator will complain about it. Of course if clothing is being removed, you can use the <Clothing Item> tag.

The clothes–panties action was intended (on my part) to temporarily remove any outer garments and my text instructed her to redress. Does this go against the game spirit or momentum you had in mind?

It is OK to remove things temporarily. As I mentioned, in 1.5 there is even a special category for this.

“Show off-wet undies assumes that the player has undies available.” Yes, I thought this would be a safe assumption for most of the game players. When we play your game, we often use the action as a starting point and modify it so it works for us. If the game calls for something we don’t have, we substitute. So briefs, panties, thong, g-string, whatever works.

For the general case, that is not a safe assumption, especially for the female player. She might be wearing a teddy, a Baby Doll, a body stocking, or numerous other items that this action would not work with. She might have started the game naked (that is actually fairly common). A safer way to do this would be to check that this action will remove 1 item to bare the crotch. Still, she could be wearing a pair of jeans with no undies. The only really safe way would be to split this into a male and a female version. Then specify that the Female "Has Removed" a thong, panties, etc. However, this requires the new 1.5 Clothing Or feature.

Regarding categories – I sometime have trouble fitting an action into the scheme. Agreed that bribe-bottomless shouldn’t need stripping checked, but what should be checked instead? Without it the action is 3-3A and would be likely to occur too early in the game, right? Sometimes, I’ve checked an “inappropriate” category for this reason – to assign it a higher level and delay its appearance. Same reasoning with bribe-panties. Partner doesn’t really remove subjects clothes, but its close and it places the level reasonably well.

You shouldn't have to check any categories for this one. The player will specify at which passion level they are OK with having their bottom bared. The game will not play the card at a lower level than that. The 1.5 algorithims do a much better job of this, but even in 1.4, it should be OK. What is interesting here is that you specify bareing the bottom, but not the crotch. But in order to bare the bottom, it will usually be necessary to also bare the crotch (unless the player is wearing a thong). In either case this is OK. If the player is wearing a thong, it is OK to remove whatever is over the thong earlier. If not, the action will be delayed until it is OK to bare the crotch also.

The love-practice new action was only simulated intercourse. Should the category “intercourse” really be checked for pretend sex?

Intercourse should note be checked for pretend sex. When I read the action, I thought it meant real sex. Perhaps it should be worded more clearly.

And as you can tell, these actions are experiments trying to figure our how to make work. So your feedback is very helpful and appreciated. We have enjoyed your game very much. Thanks!

The action editor can be kind of tricky, but you are doing great. Have fun with it.

Thanks,

Don